Celtics 126, Lakers 105

 

Can't believe I was worried about this game.

We were all set for a big East-vs-West rivalry showdown tonight, but after his scoring streak finally ended last night, LeBron decided his sciatica and arthritis were getting the better of him and sat out tonight's game in Boston. And then Luka's wife went into labor - in Slovenia - so off he went to understandably be present at the birth of his child. 

Which left the Lakers without their two superstar starters, and even good old Marcus Smart was out for L.A. Without their stars, the Lakers are hot garbage and played like it, and the Celtics led the game wire to wire.

Mr. Brown had 30 points tonight and Mr. White hit for 19. Rising star Jordan Walsh had 17 points, including 4-for-5 shooting on threes, four rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and one steal. The Celtics were +28 when Walsh was on the floor. 

For some inexplicable reason, the refs kept giving the Lakers' Austin Reeves free throws. He went to the line 17 times, eight more than the next highest player (Brown, with 9). 

The C's had a slight edge in rebounding (39 to 35) but more than made up for it with three-point shots (24-to-14) and field goal percentage (54.1-to-42.9). And to continue our favorite game here at SDW - in which quarter did the Celtics underperform? A: the third, when they were outscored by the Lakers, 36-28. 

The Celtics improve to 14-9, one game back from the Knicks in the Atlantic. The Celtics are off to Canada to play the Raptors (15-8) on Sunday afternoon (3:30 pm).